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UN Launches AI Environmental Transparency Initiative
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In Short: The UN Secretary-General has launched an initiative calling on AI companies to disclose their carbon, water, and land footprints, highlighting the environmental costs of AI's expansion.
The UN Secretary-General has launched the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, urging AI companies to disclose their carbon, water, and land footprints. This initiative aims to address the environmental impacts of the energy required to power AI, which the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) has identified as a critical issue in its latest report.
The report, released on the 30th anniversary of UNU-INWEH, underscores that AI is not just a digital technology but also a material system with significant environmental costs. It calls for a responsible AI ecosystem that prioritizes transparency, efficiency, equity, and environmental justice.
To mitigate these risks, the initiative advocates for a lifecycle approach to responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use of resources. This comprehensive strategy aims to ensure that the rapid expansion of AI does not come at the expense of the environment.
The United Nations University (UNU), through its Institute for Water, Environment and Health, has been at the forefront of this research, emphasizing the need for transparency in the environmental impacts of AI to foster a more sustainable and responsible technology sector.
Background
The United Nations University (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare through collaborative research and education.
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- United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. doi: 10.53328/INR26RMA002 This report, Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water…
- The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable environmental costs.
- To address these risks, the report calls for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and environmental justice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use.